Art of manufacturing window-glass.



PATENTED JAN. 9, 1906.

L. APPERT. ART OF MANUFACTURING WINDOW GLASS.

APPLICATION FILED MAB.2Z, 1905.

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man-w PATENTBD JAN. 9, 1906.

L. APPERT. ART OF MANUFACTURING WINDOW GLASS APPLICATION FILED MAR.22, 1905.

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Q Vi/meoaea PATENTED JAN. 9, 1906.

L. APPBRT. ART OF MANUFACTURING wmnow GLASS.

APYLICATION FILED HARM. 1905.

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LEON APPERT, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

ART OF MANUFACTURING WINDOW-GLASS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 9, 1906.

Application filed March 22, 1905. Serial No. 251,411.

have invented certain new and useful 1m provements in the Art of Manufacturing Window-Glass, of which the following is a specification.

In the manufacture of window-glass as heretofore practiced two different methods have usually been employed, in one of which the semiviscid glass taken directly from an appropriate vessel or pot is first formed into a hollow cylinder with the walls of the proper thickness to form the squares or lights desired, after which the end of the cylinder joined to the blowpipe is broken off, the cylinder cut lengthwise with an appropriate implement, and the walls thereof then flattened out into a sheet by being heated until the material of which the cylinder is composed becomes sufficiently plastic to permit of their assuming that form, following which the sheet thus produced after cooling is annealed by a subsequent heating and cooling operation and thereafter divided into squares or lights of the required size and forms. lln the other of these methods, on the other hand, the sheet is formed by rolling, and thereby flattening out a mass of semiviscid glass upon a suitable table by passing a roller over it until the same is reduced to the required thickness, after which and the cooling of the same the sheet is annealed by a subsequent heating and cooling operation and is then ready for division into squares or lights, as before ex plained. These two methods of manufacture, while eiiicient in forming the glass into squares or lights of the appropriate thickness, size, and shapes, have been found defective in practice, principally because of the fact that the squares or lights produced by them have either lacked uniformity of thickness throughout the extent of each or are possessed of rough and uneven surfaces, which in this latter case require a grinding and polishing of the surfaces before the squares or lights are ready for use.

The objects of my invention are therefore to obviate these defects and to produce window-glass which while fulfilling all and severally the various conditions exacted of it when in use shall at the same time permit of the various operations necessary to the productions of the squares or lights from the mass of semiviscid material being performed in great part by mechanical means and without the requirement of highly-skilled labor or of excessive physical effort on the part of the operatives employed.

To these ends the invention consists in a succession of operations in which the conversion of a previously-formed closed-top bellshaped glass blank into a plate or disk ready for division into squares or lights of the size and form required is effected, all as will hereinafter more fully appear.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the mechanism by means of which the rotation and other required movements are imparted to the glass in being transformed from the blank into a flat sheet, showing also in side elevation the glass and rails upon which the mechanism is mounted and operated; Fig. 2, a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1 and of the furnace or oven in which the glass is heated during its transformation in vertical longitudinal section; Fig. 3, an end elevation of such mechanism and supporting-carriage, showing also in elevation the blank to be and being transformed, the carriage-supporting rails, and a portion of the furnace or oven in which the heating of the glass during its transformation is effected in transverse section; Fig. 4, a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the blank in a reverse position with the plate or disk of glass formed by its transformation in dotted lines and parts broken away; Fig. 5, a plan taken in the plane y 1 of Fig; 4 Fig. 6, a section of one of the blanks before being transformed, taken axially thereof; and Fig. 7 a reverse plan view of a clamping-ring detached with the segments thereof slightly separated.

In all the figures like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A indicates one of the glass blanks from which the squares or lights are formed, the same being preferably cast in a suitable mold in a manner similar to that in which tumblers and other like hollow articles are at present produced. This blank is preferably cast in the form of a bell or of a closed-top hollow conic frustum, with its Walls gradually diniinishing in thickness from its lower open end upward to the center of its closed top, whereby to have the material so disposed therein as to insure of a plate or disk being formed of uniform thickness throughout when transformed thereinto and is provided Lil forced into its interior.

around its lower outer edge with an outwardlyprojecting bead or flange a and with a small circular projection a, extending upward from its closed top, by means of which two latter the blank may be held and supported in the different positions required in its transformation into a plate or discus form.

The blank A being constructed as thus described, the first step in its transformation into a plate or disk is to convert it into the form of a more or less flattened ovoid by forcing upward and outward its closed end portion to the proper extent. This is accomplished by heating the blank until its walls have become sufficiently plastic to permit of such transformation and while in that condition subjecting it to a more or less rapid rotary and vertical up-and-down movement while a current of air under pressure is being To permit of these results being attained, the blank is deposited with its open end downward upon the upper side of a platform 0 and while clamped thereon is subjected to the various operations required in its transformation. This platform 0 is preferably provided on its upper surface with an upwardly-projecting annular flange 0, whereby to aid in the clamping of the blank thereto, and as thus equipped it is supported upon the upper end of a vertically-disposed tubular shaft 0 which is rotatably mounted in suitable bearings secured to the forward end of a carriage C, which in turn is provided with flanged supporting-wheels 0 that are adapted to travel back and forth upon suitably-disposed tracks a. As thus supported the clamping of the blank A upon the platform 0 may be accomplished by any appropriate means, it only being essential that whatever the means employed may be the blank be so clamped to the platform that a closed joint will be formed between them. I prefer, however, to employ for the clamping purpose a ring 0 which may be constructed in two or more segmentsas shown, for instance, in Fig. 7with its inner surface so shaped asto conform to the bead or flange a and as thus constructed to interpose it between the exterior surface of the lower portion of the blank and the interior of the upper projecting annular flange 0, with an asbestos packing arranged between it and the ring and flange, if so desired. The blank A having been thus clamped upon the platform 0 is then heated to the requisite degree to allow of its transformation. This is accomplished by depositing it within a suitable oven D, which is arranged within or in proper relationship to any convenient furnace D, that is provided with means for supplying the requisite degree of heat theretosuch, for instance, as a combustion-chamber or other appropriate heatgenerator D which is connected with the oven D through appropriate flues d.

For depositing the blank within the oven D, I make use of the carriage 0, upon which the blank is supported, and cause its deposition in the oven by moving the carriage forward along the tracks 0 in the proper direction to accomplish that result, and in order to allow of the carriage with its accessories passing beneath the oven D while carrying the blank within the latter, and thereby prote'cting the former from the heat supplied to the oven from the combustion-chamber or other heat-generator D the bottom of the oven is elevated sufliciently to permit of the carriage and its accessories passing thereunder and is provided with a longitudinal slot 6?, extending downward through it, along which the tubular shaft 0 travels as the blank or other form developed from it is carried into or from the oven and the carriage with its accessories passed back and forth beneath the bottom thereof. The blank A having been thus deposited within the oven D and subjected to the requisite degree of heat, a more or less rapid rotation upon its axis will be imparted to it and a current of air under pressure forced into its interior.

For imparting the required rotary motion ,to the blank an electric motor E may be employed which, supported upon the carriage C and connected with the tubular shaft 0 through the intervention of sprocket-wheels e and a cooperating sprocket-chain e, is controlled in its movements by a rheostat E, that is likewise supported upon the carriage C and operated from the foot of the operator through an appropriate pedal E while to supply a current of air to the interior of the blank a flexible tube F is made use of, which, similarly mounted upon the carriage C, extends from any suitable air-supply to the tubular shaft 0 with which it is connected, and is provided with a valve f, by means of which the flow of the air through it may be regulated and controlled. In being thus acted upon by the centrifugal force engendered by its rotation and by the pressure of air forced into its interior the heated blank in consequence of its plasticity and the restraint imposed on its lower open end by the clamp :0 will have its upper closed portion forced upward and outward into a bulbous or ovoid shaped body, which may be more or less flattened, as shown by full lines in Fig. 1, by imparting to the blank an up-and-down movement during the time of its transformation, which may be accomplished in any con venient wayas, for instance, by raising and lowering the rear end of the carriage C. Having been thus transformed, the walls of the flattened bulbous or ovoid shaped product will, if the various operations above explained have been properly performed, be of gradually-increasing thickness from near its top central point or apex (which will be of substantially the thickness of the completed plate required) downward to its lower edge,

where its thickness will be the greatest, as is required in the formation of a completed plate or disk of uniform thickness throughout by the subsequent operations, with all roughness and other defects occasioned by the contact of the heated glass with the walls of the molds in the casting operation removed. The transformation of the blank into a flattened bulbous or ovoid shaped body having been thus completed, the product while still in rotation will be withdrawn from the furnace B by moving the carriage C backward upon the supporting-track 0*, and this rotation will be continued until the transformed body has cooled sufficiently to be incapable of distortion or deformation, when the supply of air to its interior and its rotation will be discontinued. Having been thus removed from the oven D and sufiiciently cooled, the transformed body is detached from the platform 0 and after having been inverted is deposited, with its open end upward, upon a second platform 0 which isor may be of substantially the same form as that of the platform 0, but with the upwardly-projecting flange c omitted. In this position the body is secured, with its axis in substantial prolongation of that of the platform 0, by inserting the projection 13 on its closed dome-shaped end in a suitably-shaped depression formed in the upper surface thereof and interposing between it and the platform a small mass of plastic glass, which when cooled will firmly secure the body thereto. The platform 0, with the transformed body thus secured to it, is then placed upon and secured to the upper end of the tubular shaft 0 ready for the next operation of transforming the blank into a plate or disk. With the transformed body thus supported upon the carriage C it is rapidly transferred into the oven D, where it is again heated, but at a higher temperature, and a rotary motion imparted to it from the motor E, which rotation is gradually increased as the heating of the transformed body progresses until it becomes comparatively rapid, the result of which operation will be to cause the upper open end of the body 'to open and expand and, with the walls, to spread and flatten out into a circular plate or disk the thickness of which if the operations are properly conducted will be uniform throughout excepting at its center, where it is held in contact with the platform 0 The transformation of the ovoid shaped body into this plate or disk having been accomplished, the plate or disk while still undergoing rotation will be withdrawn from the furnace and its rotation continued until the plate or disk is sufficiently cool to be incapable of distortion, when its rotation may be suspended. The complete transformation of the blank having been thus accomplished, the plate or disk into which it has been transformed is then removed from the platform 0 by imparting to it a slight shock and is then transferred into an appropriate annealingfurnace, where it is annealed in the usual way by heating and then allowing it to gradually cool until it reaches atmospheric temperature, when it is ready for division into squares or lights of the requisite sizes and form by any of the ordinary methods usually employed for that purposeas, for instance, by cutting it with a diamond.

It will thus be seen that I provide a method of procedure by which the transfor mation of a properly-shaped cast-glass blank into plates or disks of the required thickness may be effected by mechanical means which is not only simple and capable of being carried into effect by inexpert workmen, but by which a high grade of window-glass may be produced which will fulfil all the conditions required of it in use.

While in the foregoing I have described the mechanism by means of which my method of procedure may be carried into effeet, I make no claim to such mechanism herein, as the same will form the subject of a separate application.

Having now described my invention and specified the manner in which it is or may be carried into effect, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. An improvement in the art of producing plates of glass, which consists, in first forming a hollow closed-top blank of glass in the shape of a conic frustum, next in transforming the blank thus produced into a bulbous or ovoid shaped body by subjecting it to the action of heat until it is rendered sufficiently plastic, and, while in that condition, imparting to it a rotary motion upon its axis, at the same time that a current of air is being forced into its interior, and next, in changing the position of the bulbous or ovoid shaped body thus produced end for end and transforming it into a plate or disk by reheating it, and, when sufliciently plastic, imparting to it a rotary motion upon its axis, substantially as described.

2. An improvement in the art of producing plates of glass, which consists, in first casting a hollow closed-top blank of glass in the form of a conic frustum, next in transforming this blank into a bulbous or ovoid shaped body, by subjecting it to the action of heat until it is rendered sufliciently plastic, and, while in that condition, imparting to it a rotary motion upon its axis, at the same time that a current of air is forced into its interior, and next, in changing the position of the bulbous or flattened-ovoid shaped body thus produced end for end and transforming it into a plate or disk by reheating it, and, when sufliciently plastic, imparting to it a rotary motion upon its axis, substantially as described.

3. An improvement in the art of producing plates of glass, which consists, in first casting a hollow closed-top blank of glass in the form of a conic frustum, next in transforming this blank into a bulbous or ovoid shaped body by subjecting it to the action of heat until it is rendered sufficiently plastie, and, while in that condition, imparting to it a rotary motion upon its axis at the same time that a current of air is forced into its interior, next in changing the position of the bulbous or ovoid shaped body thus produced end for end and transforming it into a plate or disk by reheating it, and, when sufiiciently plastic, imparting to it a rotary motion upon its axis, and next in annealing the plate or disk thus formed, substantially as described.

4. An improvement in the art of producing plates of glass, which consists, in first casting a hollow closed-top blank of glass in the form of a conic frustum, next in trans forming this blank into a bulbous or flattenedovoid body by subjecting it to the action of heat until it is rendered sul'liciently plastic, and, while in that condition, imparting to it a rotary motion upon its axis, as well as an up-and-down movement, at the same time that a current of air is forced into its interior, next in changing the position of the bulbous or flattened-ovoid shaped body thus produced end for end and transforming it into a plate or disk by reheating it, and, when sufficiently plastic, imparting to it a rotary inotion upon its axis, and next in annealing the plate or disk thus formed, substantially as described.

5. An improvement in the art of producing plates of glass, which consists, in first casting a hollow closed-top blank of glass in the form of a conic frustum, next in clamping this blank with its open end downward upon a rotary platform, next in transforming this blank into a bulbous or flattened-ovoid shaped body by subjecting it to the action of heat in an oven until it is rendered sufiiciently plastic, and, while in that condition, imparting to it a rotary motion upon its axis, as well as a vertical up-and-down movement at the same time that a current of air is being forced into its interior, next in cooling the same and securing it to a second rotary platform with its open end upward, next in transforming the bulbous or flattenedovoid shaped body thus produced into a plate or disk by reheating it in an oven, and, when sufliciently plastic, imparting to it a rotary motion upon its axis, and next in annealing the plate or disk thus produced, substan tially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 9th day of March, 1905.

LEON APPERT.

l/Vitnesses:

JULES F. AYoLLET, EUGENE PICHON. 

